Typical mapping technology uses functional classification to classify a road into the class or group of roads to which the road belongs. Examples of such functional classes include arterial, collector, and local. However, by using such mapping technology, conventional routing technology for athletes such as cyclists and runners is not usually based on the actual behavior of athletes.
The actual behavior of athletes is also difficult to track. To track the behavior of cyclists, for example, governmental transportation departments commonly place sensors on select roads and/or deploy people to different areas to manually count the number of passerby cyclists. However, these techniques may be inefficient, laborious, and/or may not provide a broad sampling of the actual behavior of athletes.
Having accurate elevation profiles for a planned route can be essential for planning for an athletic activity. Sometimes a person may want a relatively flat route, and sometimes a person may want a hilly route. When planning for a hilly route, it is important to know the steepest grade that will be encountered. Examples of why knowing the steepest grade in a planned route is useful are that the knowledge enables cyclists to choose the proper bike gearing for the ride, and helps both runners and cyclists dose their efforts during the route. However, global elevation profiles on roads and trails with the necessary accuracy for cyclists and runners do not currently exist.